Early Christian Demonology

HDS 1724 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of demonology in early Christianity. The course will begin with the sudden explosion of interest in demons in ancient Judaism in the 3rd c. BCE, the role of demons in the Christian New Testament, and their role in early Christian thought, especially in the writings of Origen of Alexandria (d. 185-253 CE). The course will then move into early monastic demonology and focus on such figures as Antony the Great, Athanasius, Evagrius Pontus, Pachomius, Shenoute, and others, and such texts as the various collections of apophthegmata patrum, or "Sayings of the Fathers." Among other things, the course will question of the category of "demon" understood as an evil spirit or entity, its relationship to the pre-Christian notion of the daimōn, and how demons were understood to be related to angels and humans. If time permits, the course will look at the development of Christian demonology in early medieval Eastern Christianity.